The Last Heir

7. Stomach Rumbled- First Time Taste

As soon as Mr. Harry Rice finished talking, my stomach began to rumble. He looked at me with a little smile on his face. If that was the case for me, it was a lie. I felt so empty inside, and I took my hands to rub my stomach, like a pregnant woman would.

"Seems like someone really needs food. I know a restaurant. I will take you there," he said.

His words surprised me. No one had been this generous to me before, let alone offered to take me to eat well, except for Andrew, who had stolen for me as well. If only he had not used me as a device to save his head when things went wrong, I would have been grateful until the day I die.

Mr. Harry Rice got out of the car, as he was sitting in the back seat, and came back in because he was now in the driver's seat.

"Hold on," he said.

He kicked the car, and the engine roared to life. The music started, and he turned the steering wheel to the right, coming out of the queue he had parked in.

As he drove, he grooved to the music, singing loudly at the top of his lungs. The same way he sang, he shook his neck and head from front to back, right to left, like a lizard seeking something to eat.

However, I loved his personality. I had not seen anyone this happy before because of listening to music. And as he did, I began to copy.

"Hey little man, are you feeling well?" he asked, seeing how I was looking at him from the car mirror and doing the same.

I said nothing, but continued to look at him. At least, if I wasn't sure about the music I listened to, I was certain Mr. Harry Rice drove me to a restaurant to feed my long-unfed stomach.

Mr. Harry Rice made a sudden scream, and drove into the park at a fast speed, stopping the car abruptly. I heard his deep breath as I almost hit my head on the front seat due to the speed at which he parked the car. But all of this did not matter.

"We are here." Mr. Harry Rice opened the car door and got out of it.

Even though he got out of the car, he expected me to do the same. But I did not. However, it was not because I did not want to, but because I did not know how to open the car door from the inside. As long as I pushed the car door out, it did not open.

Mr. Harry Rice laughed. He had not seen someone this ignorant of how to open a car door before. "Hey, where are you from?" he asked with a smile all around his face. And immediately, he opened the car door from the outside and told me to look.

"Locate the handle. It is usually a lever or a pull tab. Pull it or lift it to release the door latch. Then push the door outward to open it," he instructed, demonstrating as he spoke. Even before I came out of the car, he pushed the door closed and asked me to open it while he watched.

Quickly, as simply as grabbing bread and feeding it to my stomach, I got it and opened it.

"That's it. See who is a smart learner," Mr. Harry Rice praised.

Before us was a restaurant emitting enticing aromas. This was the first time I had come close to a restaurant building. Previously, I watched people as they ate through the large glass from across the road, hoping that someone would take pity on me and offer to buy me anything.

Mr. Harry began to walk towards the restaurant, and I followed him closely. Because of my past experiences, I was scared that people would not want me close to them, so I took my hands into Mr. Harry's hands and simply looked at my dirty feet as I kept walking.

We entered the restaurant, and for the first time, I saw the inside of one. I saw how different people ate and talked behind tables. I saw lovers locking lips, and for the first time, no one cared that a kid in a tattered, dirty cloth and dirty skin was walking too close to them.

However, I was wrong. Of course, they were irritated when I stepped on someone, and my hands touched their table as I was carried away by the lovers' kissing.

"Go away, dirty pig! Hey, waiter! Change my table. I won't be infected because you allowed flies from the shite into the restaurant," someone yelled.

I was so scared, but Mr. Harry Rice held me tightly. Otherwise, perhaps I would have run out of the restaurant. He took me to a separate table and instructed me to sit.

"Do not care about what people see or say about you today, because by tomorrow, you will be a completely different person. You are not of the street; you are of wealth and affluence," he assured.

Though his words gave me some solace and a little confidence, I still found it hard to believe that my own father was not a poor man but a man of power and wealth, and that he was murdered.

Persistent questions filled my heart, and I did not fail to ask, "Who was my father? What job did he have to have so much money and an enemy who killed him?"

"Your father was a businessman, and he had many enemies because of his success. The world is filled with competition. I am sure you, who lived on the street, can relate," Mr. Harry Rice laughed.

He picked up a large piece of paper on the table and scanned his eyes across it from top to bottom. I did not understand what he was doing, but I could tell that as soon as he picked up the big paper with a fancy back, one of the waiters approached us, and I stared at her.

"A beautiful lady, huh? You will have enough of them at your fingertips," Mr. Harry Rice said, catching me still staring at the lady even when she had gone from us.

"Eat up, and we will find you some good clothes later, before we meet the others," Mr. Harry Rice said again.

"Others?" I wondered. "Others?" I asked, showing my confusion on my face.